Pandemics are a large-scale outbreak of infectious diseases that can momentously increase morbidity and mortality over a wide geographic area and can cause significant Economic, Social and Political disruption.[1] Although there is uncertainty about several aspects of the Covid-19 origin story that scientists are trying very hard to unravel, in the public mind, the origin of COVID-19 is known to have emerged from China’s capital in Hubei in the late 2019,[2] spreading all over the world with over seven million infections and over 413,000 deaths as of 10th June 2020.[3] In order to fight against the spread of this pandemic, many governments all over the world have resorted to total lockdown of their economies and closure of boarder boundaries.
In Uganda, the lockdown was imposed on 31st March 2020 which radically changed the lives of everyday Ugandans especially those that worked in the informal sector. Following the Presidential Directives and issuance of Health Security Mandates in order to control the spread of the Corona virus in Uganda, many sectors were put on hold including the informal sector.
An informal economy or grey economy is one that is neither taxed nor monitored by the government in any form. Although this sector makes up a significant part of the economies in developing countries, it is often times stigmatized as troublesome or as that which creates opportunities for the vulnerable poor.[4] According to Dr. Madina Guloba a research fellow with Economic Research Centre, by 2017, the informal sector had contributed up to about 75% of the county’s GDP through a direct and indirect consumption of goods and services.[5] The type of work that makes up the informal sector is diverse particularly in terms of capital invested, technology used and incomes generated. The spectrum ranges from self-employment to street vending including, small scale services, manufacturing activities with small entry, complicated licensing regulations and irregular hours of operations.[6]
Although both formal and informal economies will suffer a great deal due to the ongoing pandemic, the impact may be more ruinous on informal economies because they are not well structured and are not covered under compact shields of public or private insurance. For instance, most workers in the informal sector even those that are employed and earn wages, do not have access to secure work, benefits, welfare protection or any sort of legal representation. Worse still, in the economic recovery plans, most of the informal sector activities may not be put on budget or could completely get excluded. The exclusion of the informal sector in the rescue package may lead to serious economic and social security consequences.
This sector constitutes a larger number of women, youth and vulnerable workers and is holding ground for the majority of young unemployed job seekers who mostly work for a daily wage.
Over the past decades, women in business had made partial achievements in accumulation of human capital[7], economic empowerment, voice and agency[8] which could reverse due to the over grown COVID-19 (Corona Virus) pandemic. It is very clear that whereas the virus is non segregating and affects both women and men, the impacts it will have on both genders may differ. Whilst countries around the globe are working to contain the spread and impacts of COVID-19 (corona virus), women in the economic sector seem to be in a totally different fight as a result of its over growing effects on the economy.
The informal sector has been dessatted to national lockdown. This has been a shock in business and the country has less or no capacity to sustain this type of shock. Therefore, this may result into unexpected turns affecting women in the informal business in different ways, some of which could include;
- An expectation of labor instability, low incomes and lack of protection and rights in most informal businesses may affect women differently as many do not have access to secure work, benefits, welfare protection or any sort of legal representation.
- Following the new market trends after the pandemic, many service providers in the informal sector may fall out of business and the delay to catch on may affect their income input negatively.
- A high crime rate wave may hit the country and hence affect women mostly due to their vulnerability.
However, with millions of people around the world in virtual lockdown, a ripple effect on the economy and social life is inevitable. Based on the impacts that women and other vulnerable people may face as observed above, measures need to be identified and adopted in order to protect their economic and social security during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these measures could include; the need for a change in the business mind sets given the change in trends should inexorable. The culture of saving should not be abandoned and actually now more than ever, the workers in the informal sector need to prepare themselves for future pandemics and how to sustain themselves without affecting their life heavily. Additionally, every business woman and man should be able to use the internet for service provision and selling of goods due to the rapid change of technology. Finally, the government needs to include the informal sector into their rescue plan so as to get workers back on truck.
Sheila Nsekanabo
Ms. Nsekanabo is a Research Associate at the Centre for Multilateral Affairs (CfMA)
[1] Porta, Miquel, Dictionary of Epidemiology. Oxford University Press. 2008
[2] Graham Redfearm, ‘How did Corona Virus Start and Where did it come from? Was it really Wuhan’s animal market?’ 27/April/2020
[3] Worldometer, COVID-19/CORONA VIRUS Infections and death toll, June/10/2020
[4] International Labor Organization, ‘women and men in the informal economy’ 2002
[5] Mouris Opolot, ‘Informality growing faster than Formality’- A report from Economic Policy Research Center-20th September 2017
[6] Meier, Gerald M; Rauch, James E. ‘Leading Issues in Economic Development’. 2005, New York, Oxford University Press.
[7] (Human Capital is a stock of habits, knowledge, social and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.) – Claudia Goldin, Department of economics Harvard University and National Bureau of Economic Research.
[8] The World Bank 2012, describes agency in terms of the ability to make effective choices and be able to transform those choices into desired outcomes through the use of endowments to take advantage of economic opportunities.
Thanks for sharing . feminist economics perspectives can enhance women roles in informal sector